US will support Indian farm initiative: Hillary

July 19, 2009 18:22 IST

The United States on Sunday committed to help India raise farm productivity and eliminate hunger. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, where the US is helping India to develop seeds that give better productivity and crops that use less water.

"We will be announcing five pillars of our cooperation with India. One of the strongest will be agriculture," she told mediapersons after touring the IARI in New Delhi.

"India's leadership in agriculture is absolutely crucial ... We will work and support Indian initiative," she said, adding, "We have to work together. It is imperative that we invest in science that increases crop yield."

Clinton said that the private sector has to play an essential role. "We are going to explore partnership (in agriculture). We can be helpful to India," she stressed.

Union Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar received her at the institute. Clinton visited the IARI to look at the research and education programme of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and its institutes, and the work of many Consultative Groups on International Agricultural Research centres, which have been key US partners since the Green Revolution in the 1960s.

Clinton also visited the research site of the IARI to see direct-seeded rice, a technology that greatly reduces the amount of water needed; farm equipment, including a zero-till planter, that saves time and reduces production cost; and a laser-land levelling machine that allows more efficient use of water.